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Old 03-31-2005, 10:57 AM   #1
beebelo
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Please explain these graphics terms


As I read and learn about my Nvidia driver problems (posted in 'hardware'), I'm developing some nagging questions that I've yet to find answers for:
[list=1][*]What is the difference between an .rpm file and a .run file?[*]Does Nvidia's .run file for version 7167 contain everything one needs to install?[*]Nvidia's HOWTO talks about 'kernal-source', 'make', and 'gcc' packages. The only file I get is the .run file. Does this contain everything?[*]About Xorg, X11, XF86, XFree86: does my system use all of these? (Installed SuSE 9.2 - running KDE, booting with GRUB.)[/list=1]

Sorry for the ignorant questions. I'm trying to figure things out for myself, but sometimes it's like having to look the definition of a definition of a definition in the dictionary....

Thanks.
 
Old 03-31-2005, 11:18 AM   #2
Tuttle
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Re: Please explain these graphics terms

Quote:
Originally posted by beebelo
As I read and learn about my Nvidia driver problems (posted in 'hardware'), I'm developing some nagging questions that I've yet to find answers for:
[list=1][*]What is the difference between an .rpm file and a .run file?[*]Does Nvidia's .run file for version 7167 contain everything one needs to install?[*]Nvidia's HOWTO talks about 'kernal-source', 'make', and 'gcc' packages. The only file I get is the .run file. Does this contain everything?[*]About Xorg, X11, XF86, XFree86: does my system use all of these? (Installed SuSE 9.2 - running KDE, booting with GRUB.)[/list=1]

Sorry for the ignorant questions. I'm trying to figure things out for myself, but sometimes it's like having to look the definition of a definition of a definition in the dictionary....

Thanks.
1&2&3. An rpm file is a set of precompiled files for whatever distribution it is you are using. You will need the correct rpm for your distro. A .run file contains all the nessecary source code and is a self extracting, self compiling, distro independant program.
4. Xorg is the current choice for people wanting X11 on their linux computer, xfree86 or xf86 is the old (unmaintained?) X client. X11 is a set of libraries used to create a basic graphical environment, Xorg connects to the kernel & drivers to deliver the graphics to your hardware.

edit: you will need kernel source too (see next post )
edit2: X11 is a protocol. Thanks Komakino (see below).

Last edited by Tuttle; 03-31-2005 at 12:19 PM.
 
Old 03-31-2005, 11:23 AM   #3
minm
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I'll attempt this

1. What is the difference between an .rpm file and a .run file?

An RPM file, which stands for RedHat Package Manager is a binary file to install programs.
a Run file is a script, which in itself is a program to install, execute commands, etc (like any program)

2 Does Nvidia's .run file for version 7167 contain everything one needs to install?

No. the run files contains everything you need to get your graphics card running, but this does have dependancies. see question 3

3. Nvidia's HOWTO talks about 'kernal-source', 'make', and 'gcc' packages. The only file I get is the .run file. Does this contain everything?

You need kernal-source, make, and gcc which does not come with the run file and is not supplied by Nvidia, Since you installed suse 9.2, open Yast, install software, and search for these three, make sure they are installed.

3. About Xorg, X11, XF86, XFree86: does my system use all of these? (Installed SuSE 9.2 - running KDE, booting with GRUB.)

Your system uses one of these. Since you are running SuSE 9.2 (as am i) i would think it's running XF86.




But anyways, to make your whole installation easier to install nvidia drivers under suse. go into the Control Center -> Yast Modules -> Software -> Online Update -> choose a mirror -> scroll down the list and select nvidia (and microsoft fonts is highly recommended by me)

And finally, when it's done.
Restart your computer

This should work, if you have problems, let us know

Last edited by minm; 03-31-2005 at 11:36 AM.
 
Old 03-31-2005, 12:05 PM   #4
beebelo
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Thanks, Tuttle and minm.

I will check YaST for 'make' and 'gcc' . I did have trouble with the command 'make prepare-all', that I was instructed to use. (You can read the original story in the link I supplied above), so maybe that's why everything is messed up at the moment. At the moment I have no graphical environment.

I think my system is using X.org, because one of my log files (regarding the failure to load X server) was '/var/log/Xorg.0.0.log'. That was confusing because so much of the forum help refers to Xfree86.

Oh, as for YaST and Nvidia, it does not actually install the driver. YaST explains that due to license issues, it only downloads the file (which is a .run file). It tells where to find the file, in: /usr/share/doc/nvidia/

I found NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6111-pkg1.run in that directory, and followed Nvidia's instructions. In a nutshell, what happened is that the graphical interface won't load anymore.

So that's where it started, and what I was trying to understand when I posted my questions here. I don't want to be accused of double posting, so if anyone can help with my X server problem, please follow the link in the post above, and answer on the Hardware forum.

Thank you!
 
Old 03-31-2005, 12:10 PM   #5
Komakino
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X11 is the windowing environment protocol used by Unix. 11 refers to the version of the specification. X11R6 is the full title of the current specification - it is unlikely there will ever be a release 7 (X11R7). XFree86 (also called XF86) is one open source implementation of the X11 protocol. X.org is another open source implementation. Most distros are abandoning XF86 in favour of X.org because of a licensing change in the former. There are also commericial X11 implementations used on other architectures such as IRIX or HP-UX.

You will only have one X11 server on your system: it will be either XFree86 or (more likely) X.org.
 
Old 03-31-2005, 01:46 PM   #6
minm
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Quote:
Originally posted by beebelo
Thanks, Tuttle and minm.

I will check YaST for 'make' and 'gcc' . I did have trouble with the command 'make prepare-all', that I was instructed to use. (You can read the original story in the link I supplied above), so maybe that's why everything is messed up at the moment. At the moment I have no graphical environment.

I think my system is using X.org, because one of my log files (regarding the failure to load X server) was '/var/log/Xorg.0.0.log'. That was confusing because so much of the forum help refers to Xfree86.

Oh, as for YaST and Nvidia, it does not actually install the driver. YaST explains that due to license issues, it only downloads the file (which is a .run file). It tells where to find the file, in: /usr/share/doc/nvidia/

I found NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6111-pkg1.run in that directory, and followed Nvidia's instructions. In a nutshell, what happened is that the graphical interface won't load anymore.

So that's where it started, and what I was trying to understand when I posted my questions here. I don't want to be accused of double posting, so if anyone can help with my X server problem, please follow the link in the post above, and answer on the Hardware forum.

Thank you!

yes, but if you select it, it will install it for you..

*shrug* it worked for me
 
  


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